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CHICAGO — A deadly arctic deep freeze enveloped the Midwest, forcing widespread closure of schools, offices and prompting the U.S. Postal Service to take the rare step of suspending mail delivery to a wide swath of the region because of the cold.

Many normal activities shut down and residents huddled inside as the National Weather Service forecast plunging temperatures from one of the coldest air masses in years. The bitter cold is the result of a split in the polar vortex that allowed temperatures to plunge much further south than normal.

City officials said this was an all-hands on deck coordinated effort until the area gets through these dangerous temperatures. Mayor Rahm Emanuel and department heads gave a briefing Wednesday evening at OEMC headquarters and urged residents to call 311 if they need access to city services or warming centers.

“If you're a landlord we encourage you to be proactive, so we don't get to an emergency situation where your tenants don't have heat. It’s your responsibility to have this working,” Jusy Frydman, buildings commissioner, said.

Fire officials are also warning residents not to donate propane tanks to the homeless, because they are a fire hazard.

During extreme cold weather, we understand that people want to help our homeless population. However, we ask that under no circumstance should you donate propane tanks which are potential fire hazards. Propane tanks can cause potential fires and explosions.

City officials also want to remind residents to have working smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors.

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School Closures

All Chicago Public Schools will be closed Wednesday and Thursday due to the impending freezing temps. Several other schools across the Chicago area, and the following universities, are also planning to close:

Flight delays and cancelations

More than 1,600 flights have been canceled at Chicago's airports.

About 1,300 of Wednesday's canceled flights were at O'Hare International Airport, one of the nation's busiest airports. The temperature at the airport early Wednesday was negative 23 degrees (negative 30.5 Celsius), but wind chills in northern Illinois made it feel as cold as negative 57 degrees (negative 49.4 Celsius).

United Airlines spokesman Charlie Hobart says "everything tends to slow down" during severely cold weather, including manpower, fueling and equipment. Hobart calls the temperatures "dangerous." He says United is bringing in extra workers to help and has provided heated tents for employees.

Amtrak, Metra Electric and South Shore Line train service canceled Wednesday

Amtrak has canceled all trains to and from Chicago on Wednesday. Amtrak said that includes short-distance corridor trains and long-distance overnight trains. Short-distance trains are also canceled Thursday, and most long-distance services to or from Chicago are also not expected on Jan. 31.

The only exception is trains that originated on or before Tuesday, Jan. 29 — they'll complete their trips to or from Chicago.

Amtrak said it regrets the inconvenience, and will work to accommodate passengers with reservations. For more information visit Amtrak.com.

The South Shore Line, which runs into northern Indiana, suspended its commuter rail trips for Wednesday and said it expected to offer limited service on Thursday. Early Wednesday, a test train encountered significant overnight wire problems. For more information visit mysouthshoreline.com

The Shore Shore Line service is suspended for Wednesday January 30, 2019.

Protecting the vulnerable

Officials throughout the region were focused on protecting vulnerable people from the cold, including the homeless, seniors and those living in substandard housing.

Some buses were turned into mobile warming shelters to encourage the homeless to come off the streets in Chicago, where the forecast for Wednesday night called for temperatures as low as minus 21 degrees (negative 29 degrees Celsius), with wind chills to minus 40 (negative 40 degrees Celsius).

Major Chicago attractions including the Lincoln Park Zoo, Art Institute and Field Museum weren't opening Wednesday. Governors in Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan declared emergencies as the worst of the cold threatened on Wednesday.

"These (conditions) are actually a public health risk and you need to treat it appropriately," Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said Tuesday. "They are life-threatening conditions and temperatures."

A wind chill of minus 25 (negative 32 degrees Celsius) can freeze skin within 15 minutes, according to the National Weather Service.

At least four deaths were linked to the weather system Tuesday, including a man struck and killed by a snow plow in the Chicago area, a young couple whose SUV struck another on a snowy road in northern Indiana and a Milwaukee man found frozen to death in a garage.

A popular saying goes: "Neither snow nor rain nor heat ..." will stop the mail from being delivered. But extreme cold will on Wednesday.

Chicago was turning five buses into makeshift warming centers moving around the city, some with nurses aboard, to encourage the homeless to come in from the cold.

"We're bringing the warming shelters to them, so they can stay near all of their stuff and still warm up," said Cristina Villarreal, spokeswoman for the city's Department of Family and Support Services.

The cold is attributed to a sudden warming far above the North Pole. A blast of warm air from misplaced Moroccan heat last month made the normally super chilly air temperatures above the North Pole rapidly increase. That split the polar vortex into pieces, which then started to wander, said Judah Cohen, a winter storm expert for Atmospheric Environmental Research.

One of those polar vortex pieces is responsible for the subzero temperatures across the Midwest this week.